Putting someone over

["Gizzark" Mike Wronglevenay]

I think it's fair to say that wrestling has changed. Things are not how they used to be even as recently as a decade ago.

But one thing that has been a time honoured standard in wrestling is that losing to someone puts them over. Obviously it's not that simple (Hulk Hogan sure as hell didn't put Billy Kidman over) but it's something which the old guys, traditionally, do for the hot young guys.

Question: when has that actually worked? I was watching the Eddie Guerrero tribute shows (because f*** it, why not be depressed on a Wednesday?) and saw JBL talking about how no-one saw him as a main eventer until he beat Eddie. And watching the matches, they are incredible matches, and without them I can't imagine JBL ever being a main event talent.

Who else has properly put someone over, and then that person has got over? Triple H putting over Batista? JBL putting over Cena (amusingly)?

How often does that actually work?

[celtics543]

Cena put Punk over at MITB in Chicago. To me that was the defining win of Punk's career.

Andre put over Hogan at WM 3. That win was probably the biggest in the history of wrestling.

Owen beating Bret at WM 10 put Owen over and made him a legit star.

[hossfan]

Its not an example of a older guy putting a younger guy over bt losing to him, but Randy Orton made Mark Henry look like a beast by getting pinned clean on back to back PPVs.

I'd argue that Daniel Bryan's biggest singles win was against Orton too, so while the victory didn't make him any more over it legitimized him as a threat.